This monument, erected in 1936, marks a portion of the Battle of Yellow House Canyon, a 10-hour fight between Indians and buffalo hunters in March 1877.

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They say the fight pitted about 300 Commanches, Apaches - and possibly Mescaleros from New Mexico - against 44 buffalo hunters.

The "bad guys" portion of the title came from research that followed the latter lives of the buffalo hunters, some of whom became outstanding civic leaders, and others rapscallions.

For lack of documentation, little is known of the subsequent lives of the Indians.

"The battle took place on East Broadway down in the canyon there, the water hole where the little lake is now just north of Broadway, and extended on down around the corner where Mae Simmons Park is," Carr said.

According to Perkins, the Indians had earlier left Fort Sill, and a debate continues about whether they escaped the confines of the fort or simply walked away.

She said they were unhappy with their food rations and clothing, and "The buffalo was their livelihood: food and covering."

Ray Westbrook / Staff

A marker has been set up to designate a position taken by Indians in a battle with buffalo hunters that took place in March 1877 across areas that are now East Broadway and Mackenzie Park.

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Womack said the murder victim was a very popular buffalo hunter named Marshal Sewall, and that later descriptions of the attack scene suggested torture.

"He was from Pennsylvania, and didn't drink, didn't smoke, didn't cuss," Womack said. "He had a camp in Borden County, close to Gail. The Indians came through, and he was killed.

"When the word got back to Rath City (a former town near present-day Albany) that he was dead, and there had been other attacks also, they decided they would go after the Indians."

Carr said that Sewall had gone out one morning to shoot buffalo, with his crew waiting for him at camp.

"I guess his attention was diverted by the buffalo," Carr said. "The Indians saw him and supposedly waited until he had used all of his ammunition. Most of the time the buffalo hunters wouldn't use all of their ammunition. They would save some to get back to camp in case they needed to.

New battle book

 Title: "The Battle of Yellow House Canyon March 18, 1877: Buffalo Hunters and Bad Guys."

 Authors: Robert L. Carr, Yvonne Spence Perkins and Judy Womack.

 Price: $21.

 Information: 747-1319.

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"They attacked and killed him. Then they double scalped his head - each side - cut his stomach, and took his tripod that he set his gun on. They tore the tripod into three parts, put one in each side of his head and one in his abdomen.

"That infuriated the other buffalo hunters, as well as scared them to death. So, that's why they got together as a group and decided to go after them."

The battle started at early dawn in the present site of Lubbock and lasted until 4 p.m., according to Carr's research.

"The Indians had rifles, but only one buffalo gun, and that's what really saved the hunters," he said. "Their buffalo guns could shoot for miles, and they were good shots. The Indians had rifles and arrows too, but they needed to get up close to those guys, and they wouldn't let them get close."

According to Womack, the Indians must have realized the battle was going to take another two or three days, and they had a nearby camp where their wives and children were.

So, they formed a massive last strike against the buffalo hunters, forcing them into a defensive position.

Then there occurred, not a truce, but a quietness.

"While the buffalo hunters were trying to decide what to do, they suddenly saw a bunch of dust coming from over the top of the land above the canyon," Carr said.

During the last attack, the women and children had been breaking the camp and loading it onto horses. The dust was from their rapid departure.

Then the warriors left also.

"The hunters were very satisfied that the Indians had left, because they were exhausted, too," Carr said. "They didn't even try to go after them."

Battle casualties among the hunters were four wounded, with one dying from the wounds two months later. It was difficult to estimate losses among the Indians because they took their dead and wounded with them. Still, the military reported later that 31 Indian warriors had been killed on that day, with four more dying the next day, and that 22 had been wounded.

Womack's research indicated there was one more casualty from among the buffalo hunters.

"When they got back to Rath City, some hadn't come to the battle and thought it would be a foolish thing to do," she said. "One guy actually said that anybody who did it would be stupid. Then he got shot because the buffalo hunters took offense at it."